Bush praises interim Iraqi government

President said he had no role in choosing new officials

By

CorbettB. Daly

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- President Bush praised the members of the new Iraqi interim government but warned there would be more violence as the new leaders assume control of their nation.

"This is a major step toward the emergence of a free Iraq," Bush told reporters at the White House after 33 members of Iraq's interim government who will take over power from the United States on June 30 were named.

"I believe there will be more violence because there's still violent people who want to stop progress," Bush said, "I hate to predict violence, but I just understand the nature of the killers."

Bush said U.N. special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and a team of "hundreds of Iraqis" chose the 27 men and 6 women who will make up the new cabinet.

"Occasionally somebody said this person may be interested or that, but I had no role in picking, zero," Bush said when asked to answer criticism that the new officials are "puppets" of the United States.

The president stressed that his administration remains committed to handing over full sovereignty to the new government, which will be tasked to pave the way for nationwide elections by January.

"We're going to pass full sovereignty. And the Iraqi government will need the help of a lot of people, and we're willing to be a participant in helping them get to the elections," Bush said.

Asked if his administration was misled by Ahmed Chalabi, the former darling of the Pentagon who repeatedly warned about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq who has since been discredited, Bush distanced himself from the former exile who was seen as a driving force behind the decision to oust Saddam Hussein from power.

"I don't remember anybody walking into my office saying Chalabi says this is the way it's going to be in Iraq," Bush said, adding, "my meetings with him were very brief."

Chalabi was not given any role in the interim government.

"Mr. Brahimi made the decision on Chalabi, not the United States. Mr. Brahimi was the person that put together the group, and I haven't spoken to him or anybody on the ground as to why Chalabi wasn't taken," Bush said.

Asked to respond to comments from incoming prime minister, Iyad Allawi, that the current violence stems from the lack of planning for post-war Iraq, Bush said his administration "had a plan in place."

"We succeeded in making sure that the oil flow continues, so that he as prime minister has now got roughly 2.5 million barrels a day of Iraqi oil for the benefit of the Iraqi people. That there wasn't major disruptions of food, so that people didn't starve. In other words, we were very successful in certain things," Bush said.

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